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At present, a very shocking and big news has become a topic of discussion across the world regarding international politics and the salary structure of global leaders. A historic and huge salary hike has been announced for Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, already known as the highest paid ruler on the global stage. Under the new political salary structure implemented by the Singapore government, his salary has been increased by a whopping 64 percent, after which his annual salary has directly increased to 3.6 million Singapore dollars i.e. approximately Rs 26.9 to 27 crore in Indian currency annually. After this record-breaking salary increase, the Prime Minister of Singapore has become the highest earning leader of any other country or head of state in the world.
A very thoughtful and practical policy is working behind this step taken by the Singapore government. It has been the logic of the country’s administrative system that to attract the country’s best and brightest talents in challenging fields like politics and governance, it is very important to have an attractive pay scale. In addition, Singapore has also long claimed that by paying competitive and high salaries to senior officials and ministers in administrative positions, the scope for corruption in government departments can be reduced to almost zero. However, since this amount is many times higher than the average income of common citizens, this issue has always been considered politically sensitive and emotional, yet the government has made this major amendment, giving priority to the long-term administrative stability of the country.
If the new salary of the Prime Minister of Singapore is compared with the salary of the top leaders of the world’s most powerful and big countries, the difference is really surprising. According to media reports and global data, the Singapore PM’s new salary is almost 135 times more than the salary structure of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In addition, the official salary of US President Donald Trump is about US$400,000 annually, while the salary of the heads of Britain and other European countries is also much less than that of the Prime Minister of Singapore. Even highly paid global leaders like the Chief Executive of Hong Kong and the President of Switzerland have been left far behind the Prime Minister of Singapore after this new salary hike.
Since the issue of politicians’ salaries has always been a closely scrutinized and sensitive topic among the general public in Singapore, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has given a very measured response. Respecting the sentiments of the people and the economic realities of the country, Prime Minister Wong has announced that he will donate the entire additional amount to charity for the next five consecutive years, whatever additional increase he has received in his personal salary during his entire tenure. During his address in Parliament, he made it clear that this entire structural change is not just a matter of one person making money, but is an effort to ensure that in the coming future, Singapore continues to get the same high-quality political leadership to steer its administrative boat, which the country has always needed.
This latest decision of Singapore has once again sparked an international debate on whether the salaries of top politicians running the country should be like that of corporate CEOs or not. While on one hand there are mixed reactions among the common citizens regarding this huge increase, on the other hand experts consider it an essential part of Singapore’s transparent and corruption-free governance system. In Singapore, the salaries of ministers and other posts at the Deputy Prime Minister level have also been increased proportionately on similar lines so that a better balance of salaries is maintained across the cabinet. However, all eyes of the world are on how Singapore’s leadership, with this salary package worth crores of rupees, takes the country to economic heights while maintaining the trust of its people.